The pre-GAFCON preparatory consultation in Jordan wound up early, and the participants moved to Jerusalem on Thursday, 19th June. Hotel and meeting rooms previously unavailable in Jerusalem became available at the same time GAFCON leaders learned that previously granted permission for the Jordan consultation was deemed insufficient.
The time in Jordan was very valuable for prayer, fellowship, and networking. The group made pilgrimages to Mt. Nebo and the Baptism Site of Jesus. GAFCON Chairman Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria, and Archbishop Greg Venables of Southern Cone, were for different reasons unable to be in Jordan. Both are, however, expected to play significant roles at GAFCON in Jerusalem.
GAFCON book, The Way, The Truth and the Life, will be released on Thursday, 19th June, in Jerusalem. A press conference will be held at the Renaissance Hotel on Thursday, 19th June at 19:00 hours.
The 94-page book is published by Latimer Trust and was prepared by GAFCON Theological Resource Team. It provides the theological and historical foundation for the movement of orthodox Anglicans that is meeting in Jerusalem June 22 ”“ 29. More than 1,000 Anglican leaders from 25 countries, including 280 bishops, are expected to attend the conference.
Is it correct that Archbishop Akinola was, in fact, refused admission to Jordan because he was trying to use a diplomatic passport for non-diplomatic travel?
badman, #1, dunno – what’s the source for your rumor? Follow that back and you may find your answer.
If true, GAFCON will not admit it. They too believe “all is well” with their program of division.
I wonder if the most effective approach for the orthodox provinces would be to draft their own covenant agreement. It would be easier without the distractions of those who don’t want a covenant to begin with and without those who would water it down to point that it would be meaningless. The orthodox provinces (including a new US orthodox province) could then sign on to the covenant and clearly separate themselves from the progressives without having to establish any kind of formal structure. That could always be done later.
#2 it is reported on Reuters now, see
http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN943184.html
I understand that it is incorrect for a person who is not a diplomat, or not travelling on diplomatic business, to travel on a diplomatic passport.
Re ##1 & 2: The principal source is [url=http://timescolumns.typepad.com/gledhill/]The Times[/url] (London), although they heard it from David Virtue (so you can assess the credibility yourself). A number of other discussions are cited on [url=http://www.thinkinganglicans.org.uk/archives/003156.html]Thinking Anglicans[/url]. One possibility is that the Muslim community in Nigeria (which holds the Archbishop partially to blame for the religious rioting that killed several hundred people last year) intervened with the Jordanian government. We will probably never know.
As a result, the GAFCON business meetings have been moved three days early from Amman to Jerusalem. The organizers apparently feel that the presence of Abp. Akinola (particularly since Abp. Venables is absent due to his wife’s health) is more important than avoiding offense to Anglicans in Jerusalem and the Middle East, whose objections had displaced the conference into Jordan in the first place.
This is a great document; clear, concise and no BS.
Kendall, do we have a list of American bishops and others attending? Is +Mark Lawrence there?
“THEIR program of division?” Who do you think STARTED this whole mess in the first place? Whose social agenda ignited the fuse years ago? Do the initials TEC look familiar?